Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a central role in many pathological conditions associated with tissue destruction, including cancer, arthritis, periodontitis, ulcerations, atherosclerosis, lung fibrosis, degenerative eye diseases, and inflammation. These enzymes also function in normal development and physiology; e.g. morphogenesis, ovulation, embryo implantation, tissue involution, wound healing, bone resorption, angiogenesis, migration, and neurite outgrowth. MMP levels and activity are tightly regulated at multiple levels, including transcriptionally by a variety of growth factors, hormones, and cytokines, post-transcriptionally by mRNA stability, post-translationally by trafficking and complex activation pathways, and the regulation of their specific, biological inhibitors. The development of synthetic MMP inhibitors and their preliminary testing has opened new research avenues of interest to both academic and industrial scientists. This field crosses various disciplines, including physical chemistry (structural analysis of the MMP active site), biology and physiology (development, reproduction, morphogenesis), biochemistry and molecular biology (gene regulation, signal transduction, enzymology), and medicine and dentistry (connective tissue diseases, infectious diseases, cancer), and as such provides exceptional opportunities for cross-fertilization in the pursuit of common knowledge and common goals. The first Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on MMPs was held in the summer of 1993, with the second meeting in 1995. These meetings were exceedingly successful and resulted in approval of this conference as a regular event. The goal of the 1997 meeting is to provide a format for discussion of the most up-to-date scientific findings in all these areas of research among scientists with diverse approaches to understanding MMP biology. To achieve this goal, we will focus on themes such as structure/function relationships, the molecular regulation of MMP expression, the biochemistry of enzyme activation, and the role MMPs play in specific normal and pathological conditions. The most distinguished and pivotal research will be presented by both national and international speakers to maintain the highly successful tradition set by previous GRCs on MMPs. Therefore, this application requests partial funding for support of these invited speakers to the 1997 GRC on "Matrix Metalloproteinases."